The box, which Hefter calls the Juicebox, has the potential
to save a lot of schools and other cash-strapped organizations
money.

It makes old computers run like new. Hefter says schools that use
his product, Neverware,
will never have to buy new computers again.

Hefter's Juicebox acts as a server that turns even 10-year-old
computers into "thin clients," to use a term from enterprise
technology. That means the computers merely run basic
input-output functions, taking input from keyboards and
displaying data on a monitor while a nearby Juicebox actually
runs software programs for them.

One Neverware
Juicebox can run 100 old computers in this manner. Neverware
covers the cost of implementing a Juicebox and maintaining it.
Organizations pay a subscription fee based on how many computers
they'd like to connect to the box.

"From a user's perspective, it's like they unplugged an old
computer and plugged in a brand-new one," Hefter says. A computer
using Neverware's Juicebox experiences the updated operating
system, speed, and reliability of newer models, despite the old
hardware.

Neverware has been funded by a group of venture capitalists who
pumped $1 million into Neverware late last year. They've kept
quiet about their portfolio company while Neverware worked on
bringing the product to market.

Now that Neverware has been tested, sold, and implemented in a
number of high schools throughout the northeast, the investors
are ready to publicly show their support. The funding round,
which closed in early 2012, involved Khosla
Ventures, GRP
Partners, Thrive
Capital,
General Catalyst Partners, Raptor Ventures, and a few New
York angel investors.

Neverware is an admirable idea. It aims to solve a big pain point
for people who don't have the resources to invest in the latest
and greatest technology. But during the three years it took
Hefter to come up with the idea and bring it to market, a lot has
changed.

In 2009, iPads hadn't yet launched and the mobile revolution was
still getting underway. Now, cheaper, more portable classroom
computer alternatives are here. And thin clients aren't exactly
new: Everyone from Citrix to Dell and
Microsoft have similar offerings. So Neverware is entering a
hotly competitive market, going up against companies with a far
more established market presence.

Plus, it's tough to scale a business that relies on schools for
clients. Academic bureaucrats aren't known for trying innovative
new products.

"The reason schools can't afford current solutions is not because
they don't have any money, but because the only solutions in the
market were created for a Fortune 500 market that purchases
solutions two orders of magnitude greater than what schools can
afford," Hefter explains.

"Trying to adapt those solutions for schools is like trying to
adapt a corporate Gulfstream jet into a school bus. Schools
don't want to pay for the world's most expensive systems, they
want to pay for something that fulfills their need - a fast,
reliable computer system that works on whatever technology they
happen to have, from PCs to Macs to netbooks to tablets."

Knowing Hefter, the young entrepreneur won't give up on his
product without a fight.